>>megyn: president obama makes the acceptance speech. will you watch? follow me on twitter, and not just the president but the vice president. this is a big night, not as big as they intended, with 75,000, more like 25,000. the president held a conference call with the disappointed ticket holders. now, i will see you later tonight at 10:00. look where shepard smith is. he has moved in the arena below me. what is the deal? you wanted to hang out in kentucky? >>shepard: i am closer to you if you turn around. the producers want add new position. >>megyn: i'm feeling the love, buddy. >>shepard: nothing but love. the news begins anew. live today from the democratic national convention. this is the big night for the democrats. president obama set to accept the nomination for another term in the white house. the vice president, joe biden, expected to do the same. that is the plan here inside the arena. the two accepting on the same night. that hasn't happened in many,

many years. as we reported, organizers relocated the event from the open-air stadium to an indoor arena which holds about 50,000 fewer people. they said it was a safety issue because of severe weather in the forecast. one official expressed concern about filling the massive outdoor stadium down the road but different sides say different things on that. david axelrod said the campaign was 100 percent confident it would not be a problem. it will be a more intimate setting, either way, compared to 2008 when senator obama accepted the democratic nomination in front of 80,000 people in denver. those who are there will never forget it. the lineup includes charles crist, a former republican governor, now an. in, putting in support behind president obama. john kerry will be here and actress longoria

who is co-chair for the re-election committee. tonight on fox news the former congresswoman, gabrielle giffords, will deliver the pledge of allegiance. she resigned from congress this year after a a after a psychotic gunman shot her in the head. there has been a lot of talk about bill clinton's 50-minute speech last night with a passionate endorsement for his re-election. now, the romney campaign is responding. ed henry has that story on the convention floor. why don't we just start with the tale of two speeches: president clinton teeing up president obama. >>reporter: what we are told in terms of new information for president obama tonight, it is expected to unveil some new policy proposals to the economic plan that is on the table, the

jobs bill, but nothing dramatic. aides saying there will not be a "state of the union" address with new kinds of poll proposals. he wants to hit some big themes and when you mention former president clinton, the biggest theme he tried to lay out last night was in the most dramatic moment when bill clinton said, look, no president, not even me, could have turned this economy around in one term. you need to give him more time. the deputy campaign manager jumped all over that to say this is all about the future. take a listen. >> we have a vision. this is where the middle class is the foundation of a strong economy. the president the lay out that path forward. >>reporter: they are focusing on forward and the future. the republicans are saying they are moving the goalpost with the speech in a way because president obama early in the term said in february of 2009 if he did not get the economy turned around in 3 1/2 years it

would be a one-term proposition and now they say it is a two-term proposition so romney is saying this, reacting to the speech, bill clinton worked with republicans, balanced the budget and after four years he can say, you were better off. president obama has not worked across the aisle and he has barely worked with democrats and has the worst economic record of any president in modern history. that is the romney camp response. obviously, the obama folks feel it has been the republicans who are out to get him and they will continue to trade assaults with the stage to the president tonight. >>shepard: i understand that the speech has been a process, not an event. where is the president on it? >>reporter: he is not done. he is still working on the speech. the president is in a conference call with the disappointed supporters a short time ago because it has been moved from the outdoor stadium as you mentioned to this arena. he was trying to say, look, there will be less fanfare. it is not a football stadium anymore. he said he wanted to lay out his vision.

while there is disappointment, sure, the opportunity for this president, tonight, is a much more intimate setting if him to make the case directly, not just with the did thes but to the people all around the country. >>shepard: thank you, ed henry, thanks. much has been made of the lack of balloons. we walked by the ready room for the dnc and we saw bundles of american flags so i guess it will be ready to go tonight on a big night like this. and now, a former speech writer for president clinton from 1995 to 1999, no doubt insight on what we heard last night. and the political reporter from real clear politics joins us and a friend of the program. michael, i guess it depends on your perspective when you see and hear president clinton. he was off the prompter a lot last night which, certainly is nothing new and he has this

place rolling. >>guest: it was classic bill clinton speech: passionate, long, full of statistics of arguments. what was refreshing to me, he talked to the people at home like they were adults, making a real policy argument. to get a room full of 20,000 people jumping and screaming about statistics is no mean feat. you do not see it often. he made an important argument for the democrats, saying, look, the republicans want to say this is a referendum. the democrats say it is a choice. he laid out what he thought were the successes of president obama and in very, very sharp terms he would say, he shredded the republican plans, republican budgets. >>shepard: he use tactic taught in speechmaking back in college or high school, listen to me on this one, this is important, listen to me. when you were fading, it seems he got us re-engaged.

>>guest: there was the wagging of the finger factor. he employs guilt in some parts when he talked about medicare and medicaid. he said if we cut money from these programs, thing of the disabled and poor citizens of this country who cannot use those programs. what are they going to do? he looked very serious and sad in thinking about that. he tugs on the heart strings. >>shepard: in the advertisements and in the execution at this convention, it is clear, they believe they have a real "in" with women. that is unmistakable. >>guest: they are talking a lot about abortion rights. there was an appeal to younger women, under 40, and many system women who support the president simply because of women's issues, like abortion rights. >>shepard: michael, what is the president's challenge, unlike the president last night, bill clinton, and tonight obama?

>>guest: i don't think he will want to spend so much time knocking down the opposition. but making a clear choice, really, laying out his vision and his plan for a second term. this is his moment to tell the country, to tell us, if he could, what would he do in a second term. yes, the congress may not cooperate but how do we build, in his words, this economy to last? what would he do? he has not had that opportunity. when we talk about the length of the speeches, this is the only time our political leaders, whether elected or someone like former president clinton, get to talk directly to voters about things that matter to them. not 30-second ads or slice and dice by journalists. the public craves that. this is or was an opportunity for governor romney, which i think he missed by not laying out his own agenda, and certainly an opportunity for the president, even the president needs time like this to talk to the public in ways he cannot on

a normal day. >>shepard: erin, tonight, quickly? >>guest: a lot about the president as commander in chief. they know they want to exploit that because governor romney did not speak much about national security or the wars. he will certainly do a lot to divert from the economy in order to tout the big success which was killing osama bin laden. >>shepard: thank you both. when the president does take the stage to accept the party nomination this evening live on fox news, he will have to convince voters that he is a better choice for the future than the republican rival, mitt romney. that is not an easy task for an incumbent presiding over a very difficult economy. but a number of his historians say the president is no stranger to creating excitement with speeches. clearly that is an understatement. james has that story. >>reporter: i anded a senior campaign official this morning if their man has the old obama magic of 2008.

the aide replied "tonight is not about magic," but said the president will lay out a "pragmatic vision," of the next four years with a potential audience of 30348 viewers conservative analysts question whether the great orator of 2008 was overrated. >> i'm not sure he had "it," as much as people thought. people project upon him a lost their own bias, pro or con. he has always been articulate, but i never found him to be the greatest orator people make him out to be. >>reporter: he has been working on the campaign rallies and other speeches over the last ten weeks averaging a running length of 24 minutes and the infrequent solo news conferences the last ten of which have,

depending how you count them, have averaged out to 44 minutes. the last truly memorable performance he turned in may have been the remarks at the memorial event in tucson after the shooting of congresswoman gabrielle giffords and 17 others. that was 20 months ago. defenders cite cuomos saying that politicians campaign in poetry but govern in prose. i am not surprised that 9 president has to talk about mechanics in getting a bill passed but that does not mean he has lost it but he is fulfilling his responsibility to hit it out of the park by inspiring you with the values of america. >> he spoke by conference call today with supporters to express his regrets over the shifting of the venue and the fact that many, many supporters will not see him speak but he said "i can't wait to share my vision for the future with you tonight," and expect him to say it is thought about me but what we want to accomplish for the

country. >>shepard: thank you, james, from charlotte, north carolina. that's president obama's side and well have more of a look ahead to tonight's speech, and his rival, governor romney, has been keeping a low profile but his vice presidential nominee, ryan, is way out there today and now we are getting word from him on his thoughts about last night's speeches and how this particular convention has been going. well hear more on that in a minute and look at what we heard from speakers of the dnc last night and how much holds up to scrutiny in fact check type as we approach news time. oh, we call it the bundler. let's say you ne home and auto insurance. you give us your information once, online... [ whirring and beeping ]

[ ding! ] and we give you a discount on both. sort of like two in one. how did you guys think of that? itust came to us. what? bundling and saving made easy. now, that's progressive. call or click today. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. it put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, mood and suicidal [ male announcer ] some people hathoughts or actionsor,

while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history heart or blood vsel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. with chantix and with the support system it worked. it worked for me. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you.

>>shepard: live from charlotte, north carolina, today, the republican nominee,

mitt romney; hammering the rival overtime floor vote on the democrats' platform amending the platform to include support for yum yum and a reference to "god," sparking boos on the convention floor. today, the vice presidential nominee on the republican side, paul ryan, used that moment to rile up a republican crowd in colorado. >> they cut references to god out of their platform! they reversed course on that one yesterday. it wasn't really a popular reversal if you watch it on the tv. but to quote a prominent journalist from wisconsin, they were against god before they were for him. >>shepard: he then accused the president of stifling jobs. governor romney is staying out of the public eye, preparing for the upcoming debate. carl cameron is live in new hampshire, where the governor is now. the platform problem is their

only line of attack today? >>carl: no, romney surfaced a moment ago in new hampshire say he would like to hear the president explain some of the broken promises and said he did not expect to watch the speech because he did not expect him to do that. paul ryan is out in colorado springs, colorado, a key battleground state and is going after the president and the vice president. in addition to the division identify the lot form and the problems they had yesterday with being against god and jerusalem as israel's capital before they were for it, now, they have a problem with bob woodward's soon-to-be released book suggesting that joe biden told the house republican number two eric con tore he disagreed on the handling of the financial meltdown. listen to how paul ryan put it on the trail today. >> this was reported that in the middle of president obama's debt ceiling negotiations last summer, vice president biden said and i quote, "you know, if i were doing this, i would do it

totally different." it sounds like joe and i finally agree on something. >>reporter: lots of attempts by republicans to continue to erode the democratic message from scarlet particularly in the wake of the michelle obama and bill clinton speeches, which are loading up the artillery to blast away. >>shepard: republicans have put out a video in response to president clinton speech last night. >>carl: they did. it will be a t ad, and there will be a lot of them. romney has become the nominee officially he can spend the money he raised for the general election, tens of millions. he has more than $185 million in the bank. that can be spent on ads and that police begins tomorrow. a lost new commercials running about key battleground states and national purchases on national television. this one tries to attack the president's integrity using bill clinton's doubts about it back in the 2008 campaign when he

claimed to be one of the first democrats to oppose the iraq war. watch. >> he is a good soldier helping his party's president but what did bill clinton say about president obama in 2008? >> give me a break. whole thing is the biggest fairy tale i've ever seen. >> that quote caused quite a stir between hillary clinton and obama saying that chin tons were saying that the story was essentially made up and a bunch of hype, obviously, that was not what we saw from bill clinton last night. >>shepard: obviously not. carl cameron on the campaign trail, thank you. it is astounding the difference between primary battles and -- anyway. no matter what the president says he could be overshadowed by the jobs report from the labor department. what will that be? if you look at the dow at the bottom of the screen that could give us an idea that things are going to be good ahead.

♪ oh, say does that star spangled banner still wave ♪ ♪ o'r the land of the free ♪ and the home ♪ of the brave

>>shepard: it is not fair to listen on a performer's dress rehearsal but that is marc anthony getting ready to sing the "national anthem." it will be a good one. hours after the president does speak tonight, after receiving a jobs report tomorrow, it could steal the thunder from the president's big night or give him a boost. depending. the labor department released the weekly report showing jobless claims fell by 12,000 to 365,000, a separate report from the payroll firm adp found businesses added 200,000 jobs, the most we have seen since the month of march. still, economists say the numbers are unlikely to affect the august jobs report. economists specific the rate to stay right at 8.3 percent, a sobering reminder of the

millions of americans who are still out of work. with us is a chief white house correspondent for u.s. news and world report. i heard the argument made earlier it is too late for numbers like this to matter to the way people will vote and until it is a huge change one way or the other, do you buy that? >>guest: i do. you talk to the pollsters, their notion, democrat and republican, the economy is baked into the cake. people are feeling --. >>shepard: it is how you feel? >>guest: it is. you go to the focus groups with people who are expensing the economy, it is, really, amazing, how many have been out of work the last year, and swing voters here in north carolina and, also, in florida, and why think we get a sense, really, of how much pain there is out there in the country in washington where we do not see it in our every day likes but you talk to every day people, people have not worked, their families have

people out of work and underemployed, it is a serious problem. >>shepard: the numbers may have mattered three or four months ago. >>guest: exactly. people feel, they are cynical. whatever the numbers are now, maybe they are being manipulated, they don't think it is long-term trend. lay 50s look better and job creation is better but 8.3 percent number is high for america. if you consider there is a lot of unemployment that is not reflected in that number, this is a very serious problem remaining. >>shepard: a lot of underemployment and so many of the jobs coming on are not high-paying jobs. >>guest: right. that is why the romney campaign is hammering at this. a lot of people are quite concerned. it will have to be addressed. president clinton did, too, saying it takes more than four years to fix the economy but i'm not sure how much that will mean

to those suffering. >>shepard: the dow is up a couple hundred points, plus. i know one day does not mean a thing but sometimes they know things. >>guest: i suspect the president will know something tonight and get a sense of the numbers by the tone of his remarks. >>shepard: by november 6, are jobs, maybe not for the politicians but for every day folks who work, is jobs the big thing. >>guest: people are anxious about their jobs, their friends, and what will happen next. there is a tremendous problem they cannot count on their jobs. >>shepard: think you, sir. chaos on the convention floor last night, democrats bowed to criticism on the party platform and the president stepped in is the word. this is not how it was planned this is not what they planned. the vice chairman of the democratic national convention joins us, like, ahead from "studio b" at the bought of the

hour.

>>shepard: i am shepard smith and this is "studio b" at the bottom the hour time for the top of the news live from charlotte, north carolina at the democratic national convention. more fallout after the bizarre scene on the conference floor as democrats tried to amend the party platform. it came after criticism for dropping the word "god," and

failing to refer to jerusalem as the capital of israel. >> is there any further discussion? hearing none, the matter require as two-thirds vote in the e delegates in favor say "aye." all those degrees opposed say "no." in the opinion of the chair -- let me do that again. all of those delegates in favor say "aye." all those delegates opposed say "no." i guess...i guess...i will do that one more time. all those delegates in favor say

"aye." all those delegates opposed, say "no." in the opinion of the chair, two-thirds have voted in the affirmative and the motion is adopted. the platform has been amend as shown on the screen. >>shepard: clearly, two-thirds. but not everyone was on board. today, some of them are talking as party officials explain what happened. john roberts has the explanation live in charlotte. >>reporter: this is the worst of all worlds after taking "god" and the language of jerusalem out of the platform. and no one could, really, have explained, we talked to so many, why the language came out in the first place the listen to my conversation with debbie wasserman schultz last night. >> in was it dropped last night in i understand the clarification, but why was it dropped in the first place?

>>guest: it was, when we realized it needed clarification and president obama realized his personal view of jerusalem being israel's capital was not in the plat follow he made sure we took the recent history unprecedented step of amending our platform in the middle of the convention. >>reporter: a lot people were not happy with the way the vote went and we talked with arab americans and muslim whose thought any were railroaded, a picture of the teleprompter and it looked as though the vote was a foregone conclusion. >>shepard: new information about what happened during that roll call, do you have that? >>guest: it was platform that had jerusalem coming out and we nailed this down, former florida congressman spoke with me a little while ago, and he was a member of drafting economy in minnesota that put this thing together and he said what we wanted to do was rewrite the

section of the platform to reflect what the president's official policy is, which is to recognize jerusalem as a product of the final status agreement. he said we thought because the party's position was well-known, the president pores first natural position was well-known on jerusalem as the capital, there was no reason we had to put it in thement form. in hindsight no one will say it was smart to leave it out. >>shepard: thank you, from outside the arena this afternoon. now, the vice chairman of the democratic national convention, the mayor of the city minneapolis, the great city. that didn't go great, did it? >>guest: well, what happened was we want add plat follow reflecting our president. it is not novel. >>shepard: but, the chair said two thirds of a vote and i don't want to prethen this has never happened, it has happened with the republicans but, that said --. >>guest: but remember --. >>shepard: you got a big no on god. >>guest: the important thing is the platform reflects the

president. and the vote was taken before meth of the did thes were in the room. it is a very important issue. very important issue. >>shepard: why put yourself through that? i have a limited time, and what i am curious, why would you do knit that way when you knew there was a possibility? the mayor of los angeles it is there reading the thing and doing it again and doing it again, and doing it begin, and then, clearly there was not a two-thirds vote, why not just let it go. >>guest: why not let me explain? we want add platform that reflects the president and the technical decision -- face it, the main thing folks are talking about here is that michelle obama game a phenomenal explanation. >>shepard: i want to finish this. the problem is, what republicans want to do to you is call you the party of not god, call you a godless party. >>guest: can i talk about

that? >>shepard: i want to know. >>guest: let's talk about it. >>shepard: it appears you have handed them on a silver platter commercial for the next 55 days. "no" on god. >>guest: so, now, we have pent most of the time by you talking about that, let me talk, okay? the fact of the matter is, the president of the united states happened to be a person who is deeply rooted in god and it is a major important part of him and a reason why i personally came to this president because he expressed that. for the last four years there has been a huge attempt to talk about his faith. this party reflects all viewpoints that is good. we know this is a budget who is drive were by his faith and respects all viewpoints. >>shepard: would it have been, it looks what you are doing is acknowledging the fact that in your, yours is the big tenth party, eightist, arab americans, all different kinds of faith and

lack of faith and you acknowledge that by leaving that out. why not just own it. clearly that was happening. >>guest: this is probably the one place in our discussion --. >>shepard: we will not discuss it. >>guest: the reality is, i have had massive number of discussions and we are talking about the economy that the president is running on his record. that is something we spent most of time talking about, the facts we want to move forward on all sorts of different issues in this country. when we came to the convention, there were all sorts of controversy and questions on this show and others whether the president would run on his record. that is what we are doing. the beautiful thing about the convention we have come out saying we are dramatically better off than four years ago, with an economy that is move forward, we have a long way to go but we do not want to go back to the past. you heard bill clinton and michelle obama and delegates we are not talking about the issues, the great thing is we

walked into a washington that was paralyzed the we put in a budget who earned a way to bring this country together. he will finish the job, tonights saying we have a great country that has come a longs long way, do not go back to the battle. >>shepard: it is great to see you. congratulations. thank you. we have gotten breaking news as we spoke moments ago,is a story i feel like i have been covering my entire career, the police officer who kept losing his wines, the sergeant named drew peterson, the third wife died in a dry bat tub, the four the wipe still missing and he is a suspect in both, and he has been on the trial for wife number three. guess what? we have breaking news, now, on fox. what do you have, steve? >>reporter: well, we have a verdict. we will know in 30 minutes or less what the verdict is. the jury has come to a conclusion.

what is interesting in the deliberations, perhaps, of the five questions they asked, just a little bit ago, less than two hours ago they sent a question to the judge asking for chase on what the word "unanimous" means which suggested to a last folks they were close to a verdict. we have one now. you can make the art that if it were not for the missing wife, this trial may not exist at all. keep in mind savio's body was found march 1, 2004, in a dry bathtub. it was found to be "accidental." three years later a remarried drew pearson and wife number four, she disappeared and there is a reexamination of the savio death and exhuming of the body and new finding that her death was actually a homicide. then, two years later, in 2009, the state of illinois passes a law which breaks with all sorts of legal tradition here in this country called the hearsay law which allows in the view of the

prosecutor in will county the dead to speak from beyond the grave where statements that stacey peterson made saying they had knowledge that drew peterson was involved in the death were admitted into court. under normal circumstance this are not. we are 30 minutes away from finding out the buildup which goes back, now, eight years to the death of savio, in less than 30 minutes, in the neighborhood 25 minutes we will know the verdict. the jury is looking at two murder counts and the difference between the to is whether there was premeditation, whether there was a premeditated murder or whether drew peterson should have none by the fact that he held, allegedly, held her head under water and it was likely she was going to die. those are the two choices. we should know shortly. >>shepard: well be back to you just after the top of the hour for live coverage of the verdict in the drew peterson murder

trial. for years, conventional wisdom lab that republicans have more over the democrats on national security. this year the democrats have the edge. we will get do that and the reasons for it from beautiful charlotte, north carolina. great do have you with us this great do have you with us this thursday afternoon. andiamo! andiamo! (let's go! let's go!) avanti! avanti! (keep going! keep going!) hahaha...hahahaha! you know ronny, folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. and how happy are they jimmy? happier than christopher columbus with speedboats. that's happy! get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.

then don't get nickle and dimed by high cost investments and annoying account fees. at e-trade, our free easy-to-use online tools and experienced retirement specialists can help you build a personalized plan. and with our no annual fee iras and a wide range of low cost investments, you can execute the plan you want at a low cost. so meet with us, or go to etrade.com for a great retirement plan with low cost investments. ♪

>>shepard: we continue from the democratic national convention in charlotte, north carolina and tonight the vietnam veteran john kerry will take to the schedule to talk up the democrats' foreign policy and national security chops. he will highlight the president's successful efforts in taking out osama bin laden, obviously, and the ending of the iraq war and winding down the

war in afghanistan. some say that john kerry is using this as an audition maybe to be the next secretary of state. good to see both of you, as always, so, secretary of state for john kerry? >>guest: who is a frontrunner for the position. >>shepard: we have one of those right now. >>guest: everyone expects hillary clinton to move on and take a well deserved rest. she has done a great job and the inside boating is that john kerry will be the next secretary of state. there are other candidates but he is in the lead. >>shepard: and it makes sense he would be here on this night with this topic with that job and his future, right? >>guest: certainly. this foreign policy being the focus it makes sense to give a trial run and set the stage.

the talk that hillary clinton will make other plans, it makes sense to have someone --. >>shepard: go on. >>guest: maybe for 2016 but it makes sense for john kerry to come here and talk about foreign policy, an important night to talk about foreign policy but we know that the issue of this election is jobs and the economy and the current president has failed to make things better for the american people. they will talk about foreign policy tonight we will talk about that and the fact that the multilateral approach is leading from hide and it made america weaker and diminished our view from other foreign countries. >>shepard: it feels like the party is, you have love the talking points on issue after issue and this is one them. >>guest: not on this. come on. we are out of iraq. we are winding down in afghanistan. osama bin laden is dead. for the first time since 1952, romney, the nominee, did not, he

did not mention our troops or did he talk about the wars. >>shepard: were you surprised that? >>guest: the first time since 1952 a republican nominee has not done that and the first time that the democrats lead on foreign policy. >>shepard: bill kristol, a regular on this channel and on bret baier's show mentioned that. from your own personal opinion, was that a mistake? >>guest: he has met --. >>shepard: was it a mistake? >>guest: we talking jobs and the economy which is the number one issue. that is important to talk about that and his plan for the middle class, to improve the middle class and create jobs and turn the economy around. what we will talk about in foreign policy we will give the president credit for making the call when it came to osama bin laden but the truth he has not

made us stronger around the world. he has not put his facility down in iran and not stopped the nuclear weapons program. the centrifuges are spinning out control and they are developing nuclear weapons program and that makes us, everyone, makes us more unstable. >>guest: three nights this tampa and romney did not mention any those in the speech or did not talk about the conflicts. it is a remarkable turn of events that democratic president actually has the lead on these issues in the polls. look, people do not give him great job approval on the economy, at 44 percent but with 54 percent on foreign policy and leadership, that is a strong point for the going usually. >>guest: it is important to note that governor romney supports the military and stands behind them and the president the only place he wants to cut

is for military. that will not make us stronger. the world apology tour -- we need romney in there because he supports the troops and, also, he will go in there and turn the economy around and create jobs. >>shepard: thank you, both, alice and joe.>>shepard: just ix news, drew peterson, guilty of murder. we will be right back with a live report from steve brown.

>>shepard: the man accused of losing his wives and murdering wife number three, he has just been found guilty of murder in

the first-degree. our correspondent is live on the scene in joliet, illinois. the reading of the verdict was quickly. murder one. >>reporter: yes. murder one. the stiffer of the two charges facing drew peterson, a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison. a june -- jubilant scene where supporters of the family and folk whose have been watching this unfold over the course of the last eight years in the savio case and five years in the stacey peterson case have finally in their view got something to celebrate. someone is responsible for a murder which if it were not for the disappearance of stacey peterson i don't know we would be standing here today. keep in mind, savio was found dead in her bathtub, and it was found "accidental," and the only reason why there was pressure publicly and from law enforcement agencies to

reexamine that was that stacey peterson was missing the she is still missing. we told that attorneys for peterson have been talking to peterson in the days leading up to the final arguments and the jury deliberations and that peterson was ready to accept whatever verdict came down which sounded at least in this report are's opinion like he was getting ready to lose a particular case. but it is a consensus of opinion, and we have not heard from the jury yet, two key pieces of evidence were the testimony of her divorce attorney and her pastor which ran through what it is she said drew told her about committing this homicide. and that this particular testimony was permitted by a very unique law in illinois. you can argue that it was designed specifically for this particular case. you could call it the drew peterson law or the savio law but we have a conviction.

look for a constitutional challenge to the conviction on exactly this hearsaleh. the defense attorneys promised it. >>shepard: thank you. the power of aspirin plus more in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines. new bayer migraine formula. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

>>shepard: the prime time entertainment is getting warmed up with sound check going on this afternoon and the big night it will be, o'reilly of course will be on at his regular time and hannity, and at 10:00 eastern, 9:00 central, the vice president will speak followed by the president and, then, megyn and bret baier will be covering that and greta will take us into the wee hours of the morning showing we are america's election headquarters. it has been a busy day on wall street. the dow has